This page is a record of my attempt to calculate how many Defenders were built in each "model year". These figures are the number built for a model year not the number sold in a calendar year. A model year tends to run from November to October.
My workings
If we assume that the last 6 digits of Defender VINs increment sequentially with no gaps, then we can work out how many Defenders were built in each year based on the thresholds of these digits between model years.
You could concede that a chassis could be damaged on the assembly line, for example if a hoist malfunctioned and the engine was dropped onto it by mistake. In this case, the chassis would probably be scrapped and the VIN could not be reused. If this happened we do not know, but we can assume the VIN ranges to include every sequential number, unless gaps are known about.
| Model year | VIN starts from | VIN ends at | Estimated no. Defenders built |
| 2016 | GA478xxx | GA490328 | 12,300 |
| 2015 | FA456176 | FA478xxx | 21,800 |
| 2014 | EA446xxx | EA456175 | 10,000 |
| 2013 | DA427xxx - DA428xxx | DA446xxx | 18,000 - 19,000 |
| 2012 | CA412051 | CA427xxx | 15,000 |
| VINs changed from approximately 825000 to 400000 during 2011 There is a gap approximately between 799999 and 820000 This may have been to avoid conflicts with South African built Defenders that had VINs in the 800k range |
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| 2011 | BA798xxx | BA412050 | 19,000 |
| 2010 | AA781xxx | AA797xxx | 16,000 |
| 2009 | 9A763xxx | 9A781xxx | 18,000 |
| 2008 | 8A751063 | 8A763xxx | 12,000 |
| 2007 | 7A732615 | 7A751062 | 18,447 |
| 2006 | 6A707xxx | 6A732614 | 25,000 |
| 2005 | 5A6888xx | 5A707xxx | 19,000 |
| 2004 | 4A666xxx | 4A6888xx | 22,000 |
| 2003 | 3A647xxx | 3A666xxx | 19,000 |
| 2002 | 2A622424 | 2A647xxx | 25,000 |
| 2001 | 1A600xxx | 1A622423 | 22,000 |
| VINs changed from approximately 199999 to 600000 This was to avoid conflicts with 90/110 VINs that started from 200000 in 1983 |
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| 2000 | YA177xxx | YA600xxx | 23,000 |
| 1999 | XA159807 | XA177xxx | 17,000 |
| 1998 | WA138xxx | WA159806 | 21,000 |
| VINs changed from 999999 to 100000 | |||
| 1997 | VA999xxx | VA138xxx | 39,000 |
| 1996 | TA969103 | TA998xxx | 29,000 |
| 1995 | MA940xxx | MA968xxx | 28,000 |
| 1994 | LA930456 | LA9399xx | 10,000 (This may be wrong) |
| 1993 | KA921xxx - KA923xxx | KA930xxx | 7,000 - 9,000 (This may be wrong) |
| 1992 | JA905xxx - JA906xxx | JA921xxx - JA923xxx | 14,000 - 18,000 |
| VINs changed from approximately 485000. 90s were built from 700000 to 705000, and all models from 900000 | |||
| 1991 | HA456xxx | HA905xxx - HA906xxx | 18,915 |
| 1990 | GAxxxxxx | GA455xxx | 21,210 |
| 1989 | FAxxxxxx | 23,437 | |
| 1988 | EAxxxxxx | 22,229 | |
| 1987 | BA/DAxxxxxx | 20,475 | |
| 1986 | BA/CAxxxxxx | 19,195 | |
| 1985 | BAxxxxxx | 28,046 | |
| 1984 | AAxxxxxx | 21,562 | |
| 1983 | AAxxxxxx | 7000 | |
VINs from 1983 to 1987 were not always sequential, so there is not necessarily a beginning and end for a VIN range. Production numbers shown where VIN range is unknown comes from http://www.lrfaq.org/FAQ.3.LR_production.html
Special Edition numbers
The following number of celebration special editions Defenders were made:
- Adventure: 2277
- Heritage: 2654
- Autobiography: 180
If you have more concrete information about the VIN ranges for Defender model years, then please get in contact from the information in the footer.